Talk to most people over 40 and you’ll hear the same comments: “I just can’t eat, drink, run, stay up all night, read the fine print like I used to”. Youth is forgiving but after 40-something years of moving, breathing, digesting and gravity, our body starts to show signs of wear and tear. We’d expect it with any other machine. But most of us are still shocked when our body can’t keep up with what we think it should do. Some desperately grasp at supplements or surgery to retain their youth while, at the other extreme, some passively resign themselves that their bulging tummy and shrinking calves are just part of getting old. Aging happens. But how fast it happens is up to us.

Over the next few posts we’ll look at some common problems that hit the 40-something age group.

Middle age spread

Why it happens

Hormones, hereditary and lifestyle are the culprits in middle age spread. For women, the years leading up to menopause see a gradual drop in oestrogen levels. Oestrogen encourages fat to be stored around the hips and thighs but with less oestrogen fat tends to accumulate around the tummy. We transform from ‘pears’ to ‘apples’ – just like the men.

“Would you like coffee?” the friendly waiter asked me. Hmmm… Coffee? Tea? Coffee?.. “I’ll have the detox tea thanks,” I replied with a virtuous smile. I poured the clear fragrant liquid into my cup, checking out the unenlightened ones around me who continued to assault their body with cappucino, latte and hot chocolate. It’s not that my liver needs a helping hand – it can do its detox job just fine. But it sure did make me feel good – clean, pure, fresh.

It’s that time of year when many of us start patting our stomachs – and not contentedly. Yesterday I was at the chemist buying sunscreen when the shop assistant offered a customer a chocolate. Patting her tummy, she avidly refused: “Oh no thanks”, I need to lose all this extra I’ve put on over Christmas.”

Stuff I’ve found digging around on the net … with my take on it ..c

Physical Education Key To Improving Health In Low-income Adolescents School-based physical education plays a key role in curbing obesity and improving fitness among adolescents from low-income communities, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and UC Berkeley.

It’s what we all know: physical activity is good for your body and your mind – and it’s much more fun than sitting in the classroom all day.

TV Bombards Children With Commercials For High-fat And High-sugar Foods Childhood obesity in the United States is reaching epidemic proportions. With more than one fourth of advertising on daytime and prime time television devoted to foods and beverages and continuing questions about the role television plays in obesity, a study in the November/December issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

“Lose 20 kg in 12 weeks.” That was the advice a GP doctor gave one of her patients last week. Is it possible to do this? Yes – but you would have to go on that 4-letter word – a diet! And quite a strict one. The worst thing about ‘going on a diet’ is that you go off it. It’s far better to make small changes that, if you stick with them for a few weeks, turn into new healthy eating habits. Remember the fable of the hare and the tortoise? Slow and steady wins the race!

The ideal rate of weight loss is 0.5 – 1 kg (1.1-2.2 pounds) a week. Any more than that and you will also be losing muscle and water. Standing on the scales doesn’t tell you whether you have lost fat or muscle. That’s why some people actually gain weight when they start increasing exercise. They are building muscle which weighs more than fat. A better way to check whether you are losing fat is to check how tight your clothes feel. In winter my clothes feel as though they have shrunk but when summer arrives, thank goodness they miraculously loosen up again. It’s easier to blame the clothes than the cakes and chocolate!

Too much fat around the tummy increases the risk of all those nasty heath problems – heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. Instead of the scales grab a tape measure and check your waist circumference. For good health, women need to keep it under 90 cm (35 inches) and men under 100cm (40 inches).